Nebraska man works to make midwest home for afghan interpreters

May 29, 2015, 6:45 a.m. ·

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During David Lemoine's time in Afghanistan, he worked alongside several Afghan Interpreters. He now works to help them secure visas to the United States and housing and work in Nebraska. He's pictured above with an interpreter he refers to as "Fred" who is struggling to obtain a visa to the U.S. (Courtesy Photo)

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David Lemoine is a retired FBI agent who volunteered to serve as a contractor for security services in Afghanistan. Since his return to the United States he has been an advocate for Afghan interpreters trying to obtain a visa to live in this country. He also assists Afghan interpreters who have settled in Nebraska find work and housing. NET News talked with Lemoine about the challenges they face living in the Midwest.


NET NEWS: How did you come to interact with some of the Afghan interpreters?

DAVID LEMOINE: "The interpreters were absolutely essential to doing the job because my job was to gather intell. You relied on the interpreter not just to tell you what was being said. These guys were brought up in war. They had lived in war all of their lives since the Russian invasion and they had very keen instincts. The military relied on them to not just say what was being said in a conversation, but also to be able to determine if they person they were talking to was being truthful. They were remarkably sharp in determining if someone was lying to them.”

NET NEWS: You've been a strong advocate both here and in Washington for interpreters who are hoping to immigrate to the United States. What are some of the challenges Afghan interpreters face to come to the United States?

DAVID LEMOINE: “The Special immigrant Visa Program was started in 2009 and it was designed to allow up to 1,500 interpreters per year from Afghanistan to come to the U.S. for security reasons. It was plagued with problems in the first two-and-a-half years and very few, if any, visas were issued. After a personnel change in 2013 some visas had been issued, and by October of 2014 when the program was going to expire, less than 2,000 of the visas had been issued instead of 7,500 that had been allocated.”

NET NEWS: I'd like to ask you about your friend, Fred. You showed me this letter earlier testifying to his bravery in the field. You've told me he's in the process of applying for a visa. Where's that at now?

DAVID LEMOINE: “Fred’s had problems with his visa because of a clerical error that was made on his application. I found out about an organization called the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, which helps Afghani’s as well Iraqi’s with legal problems in obtaining their visas. It’s a tremendous organization. It’s the mouse that roared. They only have six full-time employees and the program director is a young, Yale law school graduate named Katie Reisner who fights non-stop for the rights of these people to help them come to this country. The beautiful part that you’ll see only in America is that Katie is Jewish. Her father actually fought with the Israeli Army. She’s doing what she’s doing because it’s the right thing to do. She feels these people have put aside their preconceived notions about the United States and done what’s right in order to drive the Taliban from their land. She has no prejudices against anyone and is working to help these people get the security they’ve earned by coming to the United States.”

NET NEWS: I would imagine that Nebraska is a far different setting than many of the places you're familiar with in Afghanistan. For those who are successful in finding a temporary home here, what kind of obstacles do they have to overcome?

DAVID LEMOINE: “These guys are very adaptable and have been Americanized- to a certain degree. But there’s only 2,200 miles of paved roads in Afghanistan. So when they come here and are confronted with six and eight-lane freeways, it’s pretty difficult for them to learn how to drive under those conditions. But they’re doing it. They’re taking driving lessons. Now their wives have never driven a car so it’s more of a culture shock to them, but they’re incredibly adaptable and very intelligent. A problem they're having is going out and trying to find employment to support their families. They look for jobs like everyone else does; they go online and when they see a position that they’re interested in, they apply. But when some human resources clerk looks at the application of a guy whose name they can’t pronounce and has no work history in the United States, they just don’t see where that fits in with their company. All these guys have done is interpret for the U.S. military and fight alongside our troops. They just don’t see where it fits in. They’re having trouble getting jobs. A lot of them are doing work that pays $8 or $9 an hour, but it’s hard to support your family and pay the rent with that kind of a salary. I’ve been trying to help them find positions. They can learn. I always make this joke when people think about that they come from such a primitive country where 70 percent of the people are illiterate, who think they’d have trouble adapting. When Charlie Wilson wanted to give stinger missiles to them to fight the Russians, one congressman objected to it because he didn’t think they’d be able to learn how to operate such a complex piece of equipment… Well, ask the Russians if they learned.”